Sunday, July 8, 2012

Blueberry Burst Cake with Pecans/Walnuts ~ A Retro Recipe

I recently opened a piece of mail from my sister, thinking what could this be...it's not my birthday or anything! I was delightfully surprised to receive a copy of a blueberry cake recipe with a note on it...simply, that she thought I might like it. Well, that's putting it mildly...this is the best blueberry cake I've ever made, and the first one I recall making with the blueberries scattered throughout!

Of course, I called her to thank her for the recipe and to see if she had any tips on preparing it. Apparently she's been making this cake for years, and she originally found it in a newspaper (remember what I've said about treasured recipes from newspapers?).

My sister and I have adapted the recipe from the original one, which was titled "Mary R. Greene's Blueberry Cake" and shared in an article by Cecily Brownstone, a food editor with the Associated Press for nearly forty years. Mary R. Greene was a recipe tester for Ms. Brownstone. I couldn't find the recipe on the internet, so I'm not sure of the exact year (but, yikes, probably in the 70's...my sister started baking as a small child, of course!). In response to a reader's question regarding whyblueberries seem to always fall to the bottom of a cake, Ms. Brownstone offered this fascinating insight in an article (a different recipe) I found from July 11, 1963: "Our guess is that when fresh, cultivated blueberries are used in batters, they sink to the bottom because they are larger and heavier than they once were." Boy, that explains a long-standing, baffling question of mine! (Flouring the blueberries before adding to the batter has not always worked for me!)

Sis suggested doubling the blueberries and adding a few more nuts...I just doubled the nuts. She also suggested adding additional layers of filling and batter and advised the layers would be thin (and they were!). The original recipe called for walnuts (love them!); but I happened to have pecans in the freezer from my brother's pecan orchard, so I used them...either nut would work great! I added ground mace, which is a favorite spice of mine for some cakes.

This moist cake is just bursting with blueberries that are scattered throughout the cake, and you'll enjoy it any time of the day! My mother and her friends could always be found at one of their houses having a morning or afternoon break with a good cup of coffee, cake and lots of laughter...does any one do that any more?

The Blueberry Filling
Gently fold the ingredients together with a spatula, while avoiding crushing the berries.

The Topping
Stir the ingredients together with a whisk or fork.

The Batter

Whisk together the flour, mace, baking powder and baking soda.

Thoroughly beat together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy.

Mix in the vanilla and lemon zest. Scrape the bowl.

Beat in the eggs one at a time, just until the egg color disappears.

Mix in the sour cream. Scrape the bowl again.

On low speed, gradually beat in about 1/3 at a time of the flour mixture, until well blended.

Scrape the bowl again and give the batter one last quick little mix.

Thoroughly spray a 10" Bundt pan, including the tube, with the baking spray.

Preheat the oven to 350º.

Starting with the batter and ending with the batter, alternately layer about 1 1/4 c. batter with 1 c. blueberry filling. You'll have four layers of batter and three layers of blueberry filling--seven layers total. (Very carefully spread the batter layers, as they will be very thin. When adding the blueberry filling layers, sprinkle about a TB at a time. Try to keep the berries whole at all times.)

Sprinkle the final layer of batter with the topping.

On the rack below the center of the oven, bake for about 50 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean when inserted into the middle of the cake.

Cover the cake with a clean dish towel (to let it "sweat"), and let cool overnight.

To release the cake from the pan, carefully run a very thin-bladed knife around the edges of the pan...invert onto a serving dish and give the pan a good shake and tap. Ta-Da!

To serve, carefully slice the cake with a serrated knife. Because the blueberries could cause the cake to mold; if you have any cake left over after a day or two, refrigerate it; after about 4 days, freeze it. (That is, if you have any left over!) Enjoy!

I love retro recipes, and I love how you took this blueberry bundt and turned it into layers upon layers of blueberries, batter and walnuts. I'm definitely making this, especially with all the gorgeous blueberries at the markets :)

How sweet of your sister to share her wonderful recipe! Looks so yummy with all those blueberries! I just recently made a blueberry muffin recipe that has sour cream in it--its amazing what it does to baked goods.

I have a copy of the original Mary R. Greene's Blueberry Cake recipe from the Associated Press Food Editor. My Mom made this cake for my birthday every year as it is my favorite. Mom has since passed and now I make it. It is excellent!

I had the original (no longer have it) cut out from a newspaper thrown on our driveway in Los Angeles somewhere between 1983-1989. I've made it many times, and I love it. Two things: I always found it strange that the sugar/cinnamon mixture sprinkled over the top of the batter to be on the bottom of the cake when you turn it out of the Bundt pan. And three layers of batter are already very thin so can't imagine making 7 layers! Thanks for posting this!

Hi Karen! Thanks for your comment. I'm glad I was able to provide this recipe if you no longer have it. The topping can be on the top of the cake if you want to serve it right-side up. My sister made the suggestion to divide the layers more; and it worked beautifully for better distribution of the berries, with very little extra effort. However, if you prefer to do three layers, that is optional.

Thank you Jill from Dulce Dough!

Contact Form

Name

Email
*

Message
*

Bonnie Banters is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.

Further Disclosure

This site may also contain other affiliate links. If you click one of those links and purchase a product, I may earn a small commission.
Notice Regarding Online Behavioral Advertising:
We allow third party companies to serve ads and/or collect certain anonymous information when you visit this site. These companies may use non-personally identifiable information (e.g. click stream information, browser type, time and date, subject of advertisements clicked or scrolled over) during your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services likely to be of greater interest to you. These companies typically use a cookie or third party web beacon to collect this information. To learn more about this behavioral advertising practice visit the NAI at http://www.networkadvertising.org. To opt-out of this type of advertising, you can visit http://www.aboutads.info/choices.